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Over the last 15 years, all the legislation on waste management in the Republic of Macedonia has been brought in compliance with the European legislation. The major challenge in the economy, however, still happens to be the (non) implementation of the enforced laws on green economy. Major constrains in waste management practices remain to be organization of institutions and human resources; financing of services and investments; stakeholder (non) awareness; and lack of technical management in all phases from collection to final disposal of waste. It is not only that the present situation has negative impact on the public health and the environment, but it also has serious negative economic effects which consequently affects issues related to the total economic growth of the country.

The paper has a special focus on managing packaging and packaging waste and analyzes the results of the implementation of the Law of Management of Packaging and Packaging Waste which was enforced in 2009. Positive initiatives in waste management practices were undertaken by PAKOMAK, the first Macedonian company that has been holding the license for selecting and processing of packaging waste since January 2011. The company has a proactive role in promoting the importance of packaging waste and its management, with a special emphasis on projects that increase the awareness of the whole society, especially that of the young population. Some of the projects that increase the eco-awareness of young population will be presented in the paper.

In the last two decades, the region of Southeast Europe, Republic of Macedonian included, has been marked by a politics based on the pronounced primacy of the issue of national identity over other socio-political questions. National identity as an issue per se entails material, cultural and academic processes aiming at the construction and fixing of an idea and a sense of a collective. Ample evidence in terms of material culture (the architectural project Skopje 2014) and recorded public discourse supports the claim that the question of national identity determines the course of politics, nationally and internationally.

The main focus of this chapter is to examine the different discourses regarding national identity, and the multicultural and cultural policies, formulated against the backdrop of the conditions set by the EU. Through a discursive analysis of some of the speeches and texts of Macedonian and Albanian political officials, this chapter will trace the various (re)constructions of national identity vis-à-vis Europe and Macedonia’s aspirations for European Union (EU) accession. Additionally, Macedonia’s complicated interethnic relations are analysed through the country’s struggle with the name dispute with Greece and, through what is seen as a lack of loyalty from the Albanian political parties and citizens, which push for the change of the name for a faster EU accession. This further complicates the picture of the Macedonian EU integration and creates a triangulation of discourses: one stemming from the EU requirements, and two more, stemming from the two major ethnic groups and political parties in Macedonia, namely the Macedonian and the Albanian.

The state audit is crucial for society in ensuring the transparent and legal spending of public funds. In the Republic of North Macedonia, although state audit-related activities have existed since the state's independence, the State Audit Office started operating as a Supreme Audit Institution in 1999. The purpose of this research was to explore the development of the State Audit Office in the Republic of North Macedonia over the past two decades regarding the organisational aspect and the state audit-related activities.

The research is based on a detailed analysis performed using statistical tests of data collected from the State Audit Office's annual reports on operation and performed audits in the period 2001–2020, concerning the budget, organisational size, audit engagements, audited public revenues and expenditures, audit reports, and given recommendations and their implementation. The survey method was used to determine other factors that could have a correlation with the development of the State Audit Office.

In general, it can be concluded that the State Audit Office has grown in terms of financial resources at its disposal and the organisational size (number of employees). Although there is no correlation between the regularity audit engagements and the audited public revenues and expenditures, there is still a positive correlation between the audited public revenues and expenditures. The implementation of the given recommendations by the auditors is not related to the number of recommendations in the final audit reports. There are several internal, external and international factors that have a positive correlation with the development of the State Audit Office.

The first limitation of this paper pertains to the period of existence of the Supreme Audit Institution in the Republic of North Macedonia not being very long in order to be able to draw more significant conclusions. The second limitation concerns the measurement of the variables from the survey being based only on the perception of the state auditors. Such a measurement method might be considered less accurate in describing the actual situation.

To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the only one that explores the development of the Supreme Audit Institution in the Republic of North Macedonia. Furthermore, it provides a good basis for further detailed research on areas relevant to the issue. We believe that this research will enrich the existing body of literature on state audit by offering a concrete example of the development of a Supreme Audit Institution in a less-researched geographical area.

The Republic of Macedonia is a small country on the Balkan Peninsula, comprising 25,713 square kilometers and a population of two million. For 45 years it functioned as one of the six constituent republics of the Yugoslav Federation. It was declared an independent and sovereign state in 1991. The new Constitution established the Republic not only as independent and sovereign, but also as a civil and democratic nation-state. This guaranteed complete equality and coexistence of the Macedonian people with the Albanian, Turkish, Vlach, Romany and other minorities living in the country. It also initiated the process of recognition by other states throughout the world, as well as the establishment of diplomatic relations. Macedonia was accepted as a member of the United Nations in 1993 and is currently involved in a large number of European and International associations.

This paper aims to describe and discuss the role of the police in anti-money laundering, with particular reference to the situation in the Republic of Macedonia.

A doctrinal approach is used to describe the role of the police in anti-money laundering policy, as well as to discuss whether the police is the central and main body in the fight against this crime. Deductive and inductive methods are used to analyze the collected data about Macedonian activities, provided by domestic and international organizations and institutions. Government agencies, institutions and bodies with different capacities for identifying and combating money laundering are included.

According to global statistics, about $2tn is laundered annually. Money laundering directly affects general economic and social life and the entire development, which shows why the concerns about this phenomenon have been growing worldwide. The most important issue in combating money laundering refers to preventing and detecting the problem. The police have the central role in combating money laundering in the Republic of Macedonia, but they must co-operate with public prosecutors and other agencies to fight this crime with more success. Even though Macedonian legislation is harmonized with European Union (EU) directives, there are a lot of activities in the field of money laundering to be done to fulfill EU standards. Relevant collected data were acquired from MONEYVAL reports, annual reports from the Ministry of Interior, Public Bureau of Statistics and statistics from the public prosecutor’s office, including all published documents.

The paper answers questions related to the role and effectiveness of the police by examining different authorizations and powers. Different approaches in implementing the law are specified and suggestions to overcome “two voices” are given. A comparative approach is also used to demonstrate the number of criminal charges per year, mainly collected by the public prosecutor’s office. The authors analyze whether additional training is needed for the police. All institutions should collaborate with the police because money laundering offences may be disclosed during investigations of other offences.

Authors summarises the research conducted for the needs of a EU‐funded project to assist the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Macedonia to develop a strategy and programme to stimulate the development of SMEs during the period 2007‐2010. The research reviewed the current status of the National Innovation System (NIS), its key elements and inter‐relationships. It assessed the government strategies and policies that are targeting the above‐mentioned NIS elements. This paper culminates in a series of recommendations for policy intervention that can be considered for the SME development programme.

Throughout Macedonia, beekeeping is becoming popular regardless of ethnicity. Studying ethnicity, the purpose of this paper is to determine what beekeepers in Macedonia thought in their own words about their beekeeping entrepreneurship. The objective is to identify whether motivations of ethnic Albanian beekeepers in Macedonia were the same or different compared to those of ethnic Macedonians in the same country, and if different, how.

To accomplish this objective, in-depth interviews were conducted with 40 beekeepers in Macedonia. A total of 29 interviews were conducted face-to-face and the other 11 by phone. The first set of interviews took place between December 2016 and February 2017, followed by more interviews in June 2017. In total, 27 respondents said they were ethnic Albanians, and 13 identified themselves as ethnic Macedonians. Also, ten respondents were women. While eight were full-time beekeepers, 32 were part-time beekeepers.

The results indicated that beekeeping businesses play a significant role in the transition economy of Macedonia. Beekeeping provides additional earnings that support rural families and keeps them financially stable. The majority of both Albanians and Macedonians understood that beekeeping on a part-time job basis provided a needed supplement to their income. Some part-time beekeepers are also working as auto-mechanics, locksmiths, medical doctors, restaurant/cafeteria owners, and tailors. A few in the sample were retired from their jobs or full-time beekeepers. An important difference between ethnic Albanian beekeepers and ethnic Macedonians in Macedonia is that the majority of ethnic Albanian participants see beekeeping as following in “my father’s footsteps”, while most Macedonians were motivated by the perceived opportunity of having a good business.

Limitations of the research are twofold. First, financial data of family beekeeping are not available, which would be useful in determining the contribution made to economic development. It is common, especially in transition economies such as the western Balkans, that financial results are very sensitive to their owners. Second, unavailable databases for beekeepers make any quantitative approach difficult, if not impossible, resulting in most research using the qualitative research approach.

This paper is one of the first to treat beekeeping as a form of artisan entrepreneurship, which also contributes to the understanding of family business. As in other countries, the important and operation of the family business among family members in Macedonia is passed from generation to generation. The results of this research revealed the value of networking, which was found to be very important to income. For beekeepers to develop, grow, and be branded in the community, networking is an important ingredient.

Entrepreneurial management.

The case is intended to be used by graduate students of Management and Entrepreneurship in the courses of Strategic Management and Entrepreneurial Management.

One of the first private wineries in Republic of Macedonia, a developing country which entered market economy in the end of 1990s, has successfully been using the advantages of good soil and weather conditions to provide opportunity for excellent wine making. After almost 20 years of blazing a successful entrepreneurial trail built on innovation, strict quality control, brand building and close family hands-on management, the market soon became too small; thus, internationalization was the next logical step. This case provides local and global data on the wine industry, the Mac Wine facts and figures and financial data to help answer the questions about its future management and marketing strategies and the ownership transition.

This case has been documented to help students to understand the concept and applicability of the growth strategy of a new venture in the developing country. The students will understand how this growth was realized by answering the following questions: What are the factors that contributed to the growth of this venture? Evaluate the Mac Wine decision to build a brand based on production of high-quality wines. Is Mac Wine’s marketing strategy adequate? Is the family-owned business more of a strength or a weakness at the time being? And in the future?

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to reveal the readiness of the employees in the banking sector in the Republic of North Macedonia to adapt to the reorganisation of working hours while at the same time using the safest payment methods in conditions when the world is trying to deal with the crisis caused by the COVID-19 virus.

Need for the study: The world is rapidly moving towards increasing digitalisation, which is part of all spheres of human life. The outbreak of the COVID-19 virus pandemic has accelerated these processes by requiring people to adapt to the new conditions. The countries that have worked rapidly to digitise the system, while massively using non-cash payments, have adapted more easily to their regular daily tasks. The Republic of North Macedonia, as a developing country, is trying to take a step forward by introducing the innovations used by developed countries, taking into account the available assets and human resources.

Methodology: A method for qualitative forecasting, Delphi, is used in three rounds, and the gained insights serve as inputs in the creation of two analytic hierarchy process (AHP) models.

Findings: From the extensive analysis we performed, we found that the lack of digitalisation and process automation made it difficult for employees to adapt to the method of working from home, and on the other hand, they had a much easier time adapting to the use of alternative distribution channels.

Practical implications: Our findings are useful for the country, regulatory bodies and the bank’s management in developing strategies and plans for working from home or reorganisation of working hours, to be more acceptable to employees, emphasising the benefits for both employees and employers. Also, researchers and management practitioners in developing countries interested in this area can follow our combined Delphi-AHP approach in conducting similar research.